Schmidt/Smith/Grogg/Crummett

The Smith line is currently being researched.

Sources:

Older Sources used:

Overview of Thomas Gragg's ancestry (includes surnames Coleman†, Gragg, Gregg, James†, MacGreggor, Palmer, Wilkinson, Wood† and Woods†)
Source: www.werelate.org

† indicates surname appears in my DNA results		 Thomas Gragg (Gregg)   Elizabeth Sample (Semple)   Johan Frederick Grommet Johan was a farmer by trade and a German Lutheran. ? Data being researched: Deed: 3 Oct. 1791 Peter & Mary Smith (Hardy county) to Frederick Smith. 2 tracts, 17 acres on the South Fork of the South Branch above Green's upper survey, part of 54-acre patented 10 July 1767; 65 acres on the northwest side of the South Fork adjacent to George Simmon & Smith's former land patented 1 March 1779. Consideration 40 pounds VA. Signed by Peter and Mary Smith. Witness: James Skidmore. Acknowledged 3 October 1791. Delivered 23 September 1793. Recorded 1:163-164. (Toothman Deedbook, p. 15). Peter Smith (or Peter Schmidt)
(also seen as John Peter Schmidt, son of Joist/Jost Schmidt/Schmitz, at bandmfamilytrees)

Schmidt is a German surname from an occupation, in this case, smith (source: Ancestry.com). The Smiths here, prior to 1831, used the surname Schmidt.		 Is this the ship on which he arrived? "Johann Peter Schmitt" and "Josht Schmidt" are mentioned as passengers aboard the ship Hope which arrived in Philadelphia, PA, on 23 September 1734 (p. 145, Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Volume I, 1727-1775). Are they Peter Smith and his father Joist? Maria "Mary" Huber (Hueber/Hoover/Hover)
(also seen as Maria Margaretha Huber at bandmfamilytrees)

Names of immigrants were changed/anglicized: "Hueber became Hoover..."
(Waggy, p. 9).

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The Hoovers
"The genealogical record of the Hoover family, who had come south from Pennsylvania into the Shenandoah and South Fork Valleys, had not been kept as is the case of most of the families. There is reason for that. The Hoovers, like so many other families, continued to speak German (Dutch). As later generations assimilated into the English speaking society the German language was lost. Diaries and records that had only been written in German were discarded or destroyed." (Waggy, p. 22).
    b. 1715
(County Antrim?, Northern IRELAND)
d. before 17 Aug. 1773
(Augusta or Rockingham Co., VA)		 m. ca. 1734/1735/1745 b. ca. 1715/1718/1722
(IRELAND)
d. ca. 1780
Augusta Co., VA		   b. ca. 1705 (GERMANY)
d.		 m. b.
d. 		    b. GERMANY - According to bandmfamilytrees, he was born 19 September 1721 in Münchweiler, Donnersbergkreis, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
d. ca. 1793?
According to bandmfamilytrees, he died 16 December 1791 in Pendleton County, Virginia (WV)		 m. According to bandmfamilytrees, they were married 28 November 1742 in Tulpahocken, Berks, Pennsylvania, USA b. GERMANY - According to bandmfamilytrees, she was born 1721 in Germany
d. According to bandmfamilytrees, she died in 1753		  
                             
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Support for Germanic Grogg/Gruck: Grogg Name Meaning German and Swiss German: from a short form of a Germanic personal name derived from Gothic hrukjan 'to crow' or related to Middle High German rohen 'to roar', 'cry (in battle)', probably originally a byname for a warrior (as the name may also be cognate with Gothic hrotheigs 'victorious') - from Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press (Found at Ancestry.com). Henry Grogg

Very likely the Heinrich Wilhelm Gruck who landed in Philadelphia on Nov 5, 1764, aboard the ship Jeneffer, Capt. Georg(e) Kerr, from Rotterdam, last from Cowes, qualified Nov. 5, 1764, 247 passengers (Sources: Passenger List: Gran-Haassler; Pennsylvania archives; A collection of upwards of thirty thousand names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and other immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776; Oath of Allegiance to the Province and State of Pennsylvania 1727-1775 With the Foreign Arrivals, 1786-1808, p. 468; Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Volume I, 1727-1775, p. 699 and p. 700; Also see below debate).

  Christopher Crummett (Christophel Ludewig Grummet/Grommett)

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The Crummetts

The Crummetts were Lutheran. According to Billie Jo Heater Runyon, Flora and Rachel Crummett were daughters of Christopher Crummett - Pioneer - according to Pendleton County Past and Present. He is the progenitor of all the Crummetts to ever reside in Pendleton County. He arrived in Philadelphia Nov 3, 1752, on the ship Queen of Denmark from Hamburg, Germany, last from Cowes, England. He signed his name Christophel Ludewig Grummet along with Johann Caspar Friedrich Grummet, who was probably his father or a brother (Refer to p. 504 of Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Volume I, 1727-1775). On May 1, 1759 he enlisted in a Pennsylvania regiment, giving his age as 30 years and his occupation as a saddler. His wife, Anna Regina Elizabeth (maiden name unknown) is of unknown origin. However , they apparently lived for a time in York County, PA, for their first son was born Feb 19, 1763 and christened John Frederick Grommet on April 10, 1763, in the Christ Lutheran Church in York. This son, known as Frederick Crummett, served in the American Revolutionary War in the cavalry with Capt. Peter Hull's Company, Second Batallion, Virginia Militia, and was in the siege of Yorktown in 1781. Also see Highland County, Virginia: VaGenWeb Page: Highland Soldiers in the Revolutionary War. According to A History of Highland County, Virginia by Oren F. Morton, B.L., © 1911 The Stone Printing and Manufacturing Co. (p. 356), Christopher was in what is now Highland County, VA, in 1779 and located the family homestead on Crummett Run, Pendleton County in 1787 (Note that Highland County was taken out of Pendleton and Bath counties in 1847). According to A History of the Descendants of Christopher Crummett of Pendleton County, VA, (W.VA.) as compiled by Walter L. Eye, p. 1, "Christopher Crummett settled about 1787 in the section known as Crummett's Run, located south of Sugar Grove in Pendleton Co, West Virginia. Oren F. Morton, in his History of Pendleton County, lists Crummett as German, having been derived from KROMET."
 Anna Regina Elizabeth _____   Henry Smith, Sr. (Heinrich Schmidt)

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Data being researched: Deed: 6 February 1792 Peter Smith to Henry Smith. 27 acres in Augusta County [sic] on the South Fork of the South Branch above Green's survey patented 10 July 1767. Consideration 40 pounds VA. Signed by Peter Smith. Witnesses: William Ward, Jacob Hoover, Jacob Schnider. Proved May 1792. Delivered 2 December 1793. Recorded 1:188-189. (Toothman Deedbook, p. 17).
Data being researched: Pendleton County, West Virginia, Will Book #1, pp. 142-143: 16 Nov 1796 Appraisal of Henry Smith 136.5.9 (pounds/shilling/pence). Signed: William Ward, Philip Echart, Michael Huver (Toothman Wills, p. 8). Pendleton County, West Virginia, Will Book #1, pp. 151-152: 6 Mar 1797 Bond of Christian Stone guardian of Henry Smith, Jr. (infant orphan). Signed: Christian Stein, Jacob Hoover (Toothman Wills, p. 8). Pendleton County, West Virginia, Will Book #1, pp. 230-232: 6 Mar 1799 Settlement of the estate of Henry Smith, Sr., by executors Jacob Hoover and Christian Stone. Payments to: Thomas Hoover, John Hacket, Wm Ward, John Smith, John Hiner, James Allen, Henry Stone, Sebastian Hoover, Christian Stone, Joseph Henkle, Abraham Varner, Michael Hoover, Jos Earbough, Lenard Simmon, George Simmon, Jacob Snyder, Mccoy & Co., Christian Roleman, Joseph Parrott, Philip Eckert, William Jordan. Balance 151.16.9 (pounds/shilling/pence). Signed: William McCoy, Isaac Henkle (Toothman Wills, pp. 11-12).
unknown
Not Christina as that was his son Henry, Jr.'s wife per Carr.
According to a February 3, 2020, Pendleton Pals post by Diane Wendland-Alaspa, a Henry Grogg appears in the list of Jacob Holeman's 1775 militia (Source: Brumbaugh, p. 608), a census substitute for Shenandoah (Dunmore) county Virginia. She believes it is the same Henry. The name is uncommon and John Grogg lists Shenandoah as his place of birth in the 1850 census. His death record online lists his father as Henry and his spouse as Sophia. In the 1850 census there was no spouse. I wonder if that's where the Sophia listed as Henry's wife comes from since Johns wife was Mary Rexrode. It's possible Sophia was one of her names since Germans seem to have 2 and 3 names besides their surname. Diane also shared a record of Henry Grock (Henry Grogg) as a witness to a will for Mary Durst/Derst (Duft) (Source: Gladden, p. 15). Diane checked the Dunmore rent rolls on ancestry and he is not there. He apparently didn't own land. b. pre-1750
d. ca. 1797 (in what is now WV)


Revolutionary War Patriot
Pending verification
← Refer to the left: Henry was possibly in Capt. Jacob Holeman's 1775 Dunsmore Co. militia 		  b. 1729 (GERMANY)
d. 1816
Last will and Testament where the surname was spelled Crumet.
(Source: A History of the Descendants of Christopher Crummett of Pendleton County, VA, (W.VA.) as compiled by Walter L. Eye)		 m. ca. 1760

According to "Maryland, Church Records, 1668-1995," database with images, FamilySearch, they were married 10 May 1762 and Elizabeth's maiden surname was Ay (Eye).

I share a DNA match who descends from this couple. 		b. ca. 1735
d. ca. 1820		   b.
d. ca. 1799?		 m. b.
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DEBATE: Gragg, Grogg or both?

(Also see April 2015 Facebook Discussion: pdf or doc)		 |
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Descendants via daughter Catherine Smith by her marriage to Leonard Simmons		 |
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↓		 John Smith (below) and his sister Catherine Smith married siblings Catherine Simmons and Leonard Simmons, respectively (Carr).
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Mary Rexroad,
daughter of Johannes Zachariah Rexrode and Anna (Voegel) Rexrode		 Sources: 1, 2

I have multiple DNA matches with whom I share common ancestry in J. Grogg and Mary Rexrode. Misty Kelley, Nancy Terry, Tanya Roati, Tom Buechler, David Walker and Jason Andrew Stephens.

James Grogg

According to Walter Eye, his name was James Grogg, while the sources to the left refer to him as John Grogg.		   Philip Grogg

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The Debate:

Gragg is Scots-Irish, also seen as Gregg. Some have said that some Groggs changed their surname from Gragg. However, Chuck Grogg wrote the following: "I cannot prove it but I believe Philip's father was Henry Grogg who was in Pendleton County by 1784. I am not convinced at all that this Henry Grogg was in any way related to the Graggs in the area. In fact, I believe that he was the Heinrich Wilhelm Gruck who landed in Philadelphia on Nov. 5, 1764. Of course this is entirely speculation with little hope of ever proving."

And there are others who challenge whether Groggs came from Graggs or if they were separate as German Groggs and British Graggs. In "A Review of the Genealogical Section of Oren Morton's A History of Pendleton County, WV" by Jeff Carr (http://pages.swcp.com/~dhickman/journals/V6I2/review.html), the author writes the following:

Sometimes the old clerks and census-takers themselves produced confusion; similarities between handwritten a's and o's, or Germanic consonants with similar pronunciations created much variety in the recording of names. Take the families with similar names, like Varner and Warner, and Grogg and Gragg. These families certainly had no confusion between themselves; if one studies them in detail, they are fairly distinguishable to us as well. The Varners and Groggs were Germanic, and lived in the upper South Fork area; the Warners and Graggs were British and lived on the North Fork. The early form of Varner was indeed Warner, with the "w" pronounced like a "v"; in fact, all of the "Warners" on the 1810 Pendleton Census were Varners. Only an examination of their locales, wills, and family clusters distinguishes them from the Warner family of British descent, which he could not do in one year.

Updates 14-15 June 2015 from Jamie Johnson:
"Well, my mother is now on 23andMe and I looked through the varying surnames connected to the Gragg line specifically. Coleman, James, Woods and Wood all appear in *both* my maternal and paternal lines [as DNA result surnames]. So, this doesn't clarify much but just leaves open the possibility that the Groggs were descended from the Graggs, but again not conclusively." And likewise it leaves open the possibility that the Groggs were not descended from Graggs. Yet, another piece of the puzzle seems to resolve this debate: According to Eric Hedrick's research, Heinrich Gruck signed in German the marriage bond of Philip Grogg and Flora Crummett. Chuck Grogg ordered a copy of it and verified the German signature. This supports the Gruck ancestry over Gragg ancestry for the Groggs. It also supports that Henry Grogg (not Gragg) is Philip Grogg's father, likely the Heinrich Wilhelm Gruck who landed in Philadelphia, PA, on 5 November 1764.

See the full Facebook discussion here including insight from Pendleton County researcher Glenn Huffman.
Flora Crummett

Discussion about Crummetts

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Schmidt or Smith???

The short answer is both.

According to The History of Pendleton County by Morton (1910), p. 171, the South Fork group of Smiths were presumed to be German, but it was the Smiths on North Fork Mountain who knowingly came form the surname Schmidt (and there were also Scots-Irish and English Smiths). The Parish Register, St. Michael's (Wildfang's) Church, Pendleton County, Virginia (W.Va.), VOLUME I, 1807 - 1881, translated and transcribed by George M. Smith, confirms that the Smiths listed on this page descended from German Schmidts. Note: For the Smiths who attended St. Michael's Lutheran-Reformed Church, the Smith name changed from Schmidt in 1831 (Source: St. Michael's Lutheran-Reformed Church, Pendleton County, West Virginia - Church Book, p. 9). In the church register, multiple Schmidts are listed prior to 1831, listed as Smiths after 1831, and they match up with the research regarding children and grandchildren of John Smith, where I include such details. One being the following: On page 39 is designated in the St. Michael's Wildfang church register, it shows a "Daneil Smidt" married to Maria Magdalena and them having a daughter Delila born 10 February 1829. Meanwhile at the aforementioned children of John Smith page under Daniel Smith, it has Daniel married Magdalene "Mary" Bowers 12 January 1828, just one year before Delila's birth and on that page in the 1850 census information, she is listed as the first born, age 21. So, Daniel Smith was Daniel Schmidt in the register, which also mentions Jacob Schmidt and Barbara (see below), Heinrich Schmidt and others.

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Catherine Simmons

Per Carr, her first husband was Frederick Smith. John was her second husband.

NOTE: There were other John Smiths nearby, not to be confused with this John Smith who m. Catherine Simmons; d. 1838 and was of the South Fork. There was a John Smith (m. Mary; d. 1807) of the North Fork group, and there was a John Smith (m. 12 August 1804 to Mary Rule/Rool, showing erroneously as Pool in some records) (sources: Eric Hedrick and Karl Kiser, Jeff Carr).


John or Jonathan Smith (or Johann Schmidt)

John Smith matches one who, according to Pendleton County, West Virginia, Will Book, #4, p.187, d. 31 March 1838, with probate document proved 3 May 1838, is part of the South Fork group of Smiths. His wife unmentioned suggests she predeceased him. Sons: Henry, Samuel, Joseph, Jacob, John, Daniel, Peter, Christian. Daughter: Sally Armstrong. It also mentions land on South Fork between John Bodkin and John Smith, Jr., as well as a Crummett? tract bordering George Rexrode's line. The executors were James Armstrong and Jacob Stone, son of Mary (Smith) Stone. Witnesses appear to be Thos. Jones and Jese Chew (?). Thanks to Karl Kiser for sharing this information.

b. ca. 1769
Pendleton Co., VA/WV
d. 1855		 m. 1796, Highland Co., VA b. 1768
Shenandoah, Page, VA
d. 8 February 1856		   b. ca. 1772 (VA)
d. after 1830 (VA)		 m. 28 September 1791 in what is now WV.

The marriage bond of Philip Grogg and Flora Crummett was signed in German by Henrich Gruck (suggesting Gruck instead of Gragg ancestry - see above debate)		 b. ca. 1765 (York Co.)
d. in what is now WV.

Pendleton County Land Patents

Children of
John Smith

 b. 1774
d. April 1838, South Fork, Crummetts Run, Pendleton Co., VA/WV
Last Will and Testament of John Smith
          I have multiple DNA matches with whom I share common ancestry in Philip and Flora (Crummett) Grogg. Pamela Heskett, Alissa Johnston Jordan, Douglas Dalton, Billie J Runyon, Earnest Stewart, Andrea Reel, Maureen Brook Bennett, Roscoe Harper, Debra Rexrode Reilly, Joey Newell, Tracie Lake-Kinnaird, Dewey Payton, Kyndra Lantz, Vanesa Czaban, Daniel P. Smith and David Taylor.              
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↓		 Children of John Smith (d. 1838) above / Siblings of Jacob Smith below
  descendants
through their daughter
Sophia Catherine Grogg via her marriage to John Simmons
↓		     Barbara (Barbra) Grogg According to Kevin T. Smith, certain family trees list the connection from Jacob to William, but some do not. In some Pendleton records, we see "1869 death -- Smith Jacob; d. June 26 of dropsy; age 71y; Parents: Jonathan & Catharine Smith; Occupation: Farmer; _____ (in Married spot); William Smith, son reported." It is strange that all the other references to William have "William L. Smith" in other deaths (death of his wife, etc.)

I have mltiple DNA matches with whom I share common ancestry in Jacob and Barbara (Grogg) Schmidt/Smith. Patricia Dawn Hoover, Melanie Smith, Valerie Smith, Danielle Scurls, Stephanie Houston and Kristan Masker.

Jacob Smith (or Jacob Schmidt)

research data		 Jacob's siblings

More information about Jacob
            b. 1800
d.		 m. 7 April 1822
(Source: WVCulture and Walter L. Eye and FamilySearch)
(USGenWeb disagrees with the other sources and has 1821 as the year yet a marriage register source document from Ancestry shows it's April 7th, 1822.)		 b. 1798
d. 26 May or June 1869, Pendleton Co., WV
(source: FamilySearch has May)		 Last Will and Testament of Jacob Smith
                     
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              William Lewis Smith

 William L. Smith may have fought for the Confederacy (VA Infantry) in the American Civil War. ↑
Mary-Anne Rexrode (Rexroad)

 DNA Evidence: I share ancestors William Lewis Smith and Mary-Anne Rexrode Smith with DNA matches. Sharon Wiegel, Ashley Sukes, Deandre Hedgespeth, Robert Irving Smith, Cheryl Jolley, Melissa Tausig and Lance Wonderley.  
            William was a farmer. b. 9 July 1825 in Pendleton Co., VA/WV
d. 12 Sept. 1886 in Stony Run, Pendleton Co., WV		 m. 7 December 1848, Pendleton Co., in what is now WV
Register of Marriage
(source: West Virginia Division of Culture and History via FamilySearch)

picture of the couple 		b. 26 May 1825
d. 12 Dec. 1881		    
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descendants through son David R. Smith via his marriage to Martha Jane Waggy		       

Thomas Gragg  + Elizabeth      Johan 

+-----------+ | Sample         Frederick + ?      

|b. 1715    | | +--------+     Grommet   |

|IRELAND    | | |b. about|    +--------+ |

|m.about    | | |   1722 |    |b. about| |

| 1745      | | +--------+    | 1705   | |

|d. about   | |               |GERMANY | |

|1773 in    | |               |German/ | |

|Rockingham | |               |Lutheran| |

|Co., VA    | |               |a farmer| |

+-----------+ |               +--------+ |

              |                          |

             Henry  + Sophia        Christopher  +  Anna Regina

             Gragg  | ______        (Grommett)   |  Elizabeth ____

It is not   +-------+               Crummett     |

totally     |b. pre-|              +--------+----+---+-------+

clear if    |1750 VA|              |b. 1729 |m. about|b.about| 

this Henry  |d.about|              |GERMANY |1760    | 1735  |

is Thomas'  |  1797 |              |d. 1816 |Lutheran|d.about|

son or son  | VA/WV |              |        |        | 1820  |

of William, +-------+              +--------+----+---+-------+

son of Thomas.      |                            |

                    |                            |

                    +-------+              +-----+

SMITH/SCHMIDT               |              |

(From GERMANY)              |              |

Peter Schmidt               Philip     +   Flora

(Peter Smith)               Gragg      |   Crummett

m. Maria Huber             +--------+--+--+--------+

(Hoover/Hover)             |b.about |m.   |b.about |

     |                     |1772 VA | 1791|1765 in | 

     |                     |d.after |VA/WV|York Co.|

Heinrich Schmidt           |  1830  |     |d.in    |

(Henry Smith)              | in VA  |     | VA/WV  |

m. Christina ____          +--------+---+-+--------+

     |                                  |

     |                                  |

Johann Schmidt + Mary Magdalena Simmons |

(Also John or  | (some sources have her |

Jonathan Smith)| name as Catherine      |  

b. 1774        | or Catharine Simmons)  |

m. 1794        | b. 1775 (1770-1775)    |

d. April 1838, | m. 1794 or 1796        |

South Fork,    | d. 1826                |

Crummetts Run, |                        |

Pendleton Co., |       +----------------+

VA/WV.         |       |

               |       |

             Jacob  + Barbara (Barbra) 

            Schmidt | Gragg

            (Smith) | (later Grogg)

           +--------+--------+ According to Kevin T. Smith, certain family trees list the

           |b. 1798 |b. 1799-| connection from Jacob to William, but some do not. In some

           |        | 1800   | Pendleton records, we see "1869 death - Smith, Jacob; 

           +--------+--------+ d. June 26 of dropsy; age 71y; Parents: Jonathan & 

           | m. 7 April 1821 | Catharine Smith; Occupation: Farmer; ____(in Married spot); 

           | or 1822         | William Smith, son reported." It is strange that all of the 

           +--------+--------+ other references to William have "William L. Smith" 

           |d. 26   |Gragg is| in the other deaths (death of his wife, etc.)

           |June    |SCOTS-  |

           |1869    |IRISH   |

           |Pendle- |        |

           |-ton Co.|        |

           +--------+--------+

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           William  L. Smith + Mary Ann Rexrode (Rexroad)

           +-----------------+

           |b. 9 Mar 1825    |

           |in Pendleton Co.,|

           |VA/WV            |

           |m. 7 Dec. 1848   |

           |d. 2 Sept. 1886  |

           |in Stony Run,    |

           |Pendleton Co.,   |

           |WV               |

           |He was a farmer. |

           +-----------------+